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From sepulchre to butchery-cooking: Facies analysis, taphonomy and stratigraphy of the Upper Palaeolithic post burial layer from the San Teodoro Cave…

2020

Abstract The San Teodoro Cave is considered the most significant witness of the first, Epigravettian, human colonization of Sicily from the Italian continent. Furthermore the site is a paradigmatic horizon in the Pleistocene faunal record, demonstrating a progressive transition from mega faunas to smaller-sized, Boreal, faunas. The site has been repeatedly studied and excavated, with different aims and approaches, leading to an interpretation of Epigravettian burial site and daily attendance. Here we propose a reappraisal of the study of the stratigraphy of the site, and in particular of the bone-rich layer (PAL) accumulated over the red ochre layer that apparently sealed all the different …

Preservation and decay of plant remains in two Palaeolithic sites: Abrigo de la Quebrada and Cova de les Cendres (Eastern Spain). What information ca…

2020

Abstract Plant remains are quickly affected by post-depositional processes once they are deposited in archaeological sites. In normal conditions, decomposing organisms cause their decay and final disappearance unless a preservation agent, as carbonisation or mineralisation, inhibit their activity. Moreover, physical and chemical processes could also lead to the partial or total destruction of the archaeobotanical assemblage. Thus, an analysis of their characteristics is useful for an assessing of the taphonomic processes. Archaeobotanical assemblages from two Palaeolithic sites, Abrigo de la Quebrada and Cova de les Cendres, have been analysed in terms of taxonomic composition of the assemb…

Temperature monitoring in archaeological animal bone samples in the Near East arid area, before, during and after excavation

2008

Summary In order to estimate experimentally the intensity and amplitude of thermal shocks during and after excavation, we monitored temperatures of archaeological bones on the field at three Syrian sites of the arid steppe, Qaramel, Dja'de and Aswad. Water cleaning and sun drying appear to be the most damaging steps, with temperature variations of ca. 11,000 °C/h and 84 °C/h, respectively. Ancient DNA (aDNA) bone samples kept between −7 and +12 °C from their extraction to the lab suffered much lower thermal variations (6 °C/h). Estimation of the temperature variations at different depths in the soil suggests that aDNA has suffered negative thermal conditions shortly after burial and again d…

Terrestrial laser scanning and close range photogrammetry for 3D archaeological documentation: the Upper Palaeolithic Cave of Parpalló as a case study

2010

Graphic and metric archaeological documentation is an activity that requires the capture of information from different sources, accurate processing and comprehensive analysis. If monitoring of the state of conservation is required, this task has to be performed before intervention, during and after the completion of the works in a repetitive way. This paper presents the use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) in order to effectively produce, prior to intervention, accurate and high-resolution 3D models of a cave with engravings dating back to the Upper Palaeolithic era. The processing of the TLS data is discussed in detail in order to create digital surface models. The complexity of the cav…

Subglacial bed deformation and dynamics of the Apriķi glacial tongue, W Latvia

2011

Saks, T., Kalvans, A. & Zelcs, V. 2012 (January): Subglacial bed deformation and dynamics of the Apriķi glacial tongue, W Latvia. Boreas, Vol. 41, pp. 124–140. 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2011.00222.x. ISSN 0300-9483. We evaluate the glacial dynamics and subglacial processes of the Apriķi glacial tongue in western Latvia during the Northern Lithuanian (Linkuva) oscillation of the last Scandinavian glaciation. The spatial arrangement of glacial bedforms and deformation structures are used to reconstruct the ice dynamics in the study area. The relationship between geological structures at the glacier bed and the spatial distribution of drumlins and glacigenic diapirs, on the one hand, and the permeab…

Preliminary analysis of Palaeolithic black pigments in plaquettes from the Parpalló cave (Gandía, Spain) carried out by means of non-destructive tech…

2013

Abstract Parpallo cave (Gandia, Spain) is one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in the Spanish Mediterranean region. It is characterized by a mobiliary art whose archaeological sequence covers a dilated period (26,000–11,000 BP) and includes plaquettes decorated with black and different shades of red and yellow pigments. The aim of this paper is to present the results of analyses of the nature of black pigments used in the decoration of Parpallo plaquettes. The analyses were carried out by a non-destructive technique, by means of EDXRF. Furthermore, a colorimetric data bank has been created for conservation purposes. EDXRF measurements directly identify the use of manganese black pig…

Characterization and sources of Paleolithic–Mesolithic ochre from Coves de Santa Maira (Valencian Region, Spain)

2020

Practical Movements: Kinetic rituals in the Ancient Western Mediterranean

2011

Scholars have studied the long-distance movements of people and goods in Phoenician and Punic society between the eighth and the second centuries BC in considerable depth. However, little attention has been paid to travelling, walking and sailing as common activities in their daily lives. it was through living in and moving through landscapes and seascapes that people constructed their sense of place. Sacred places may have been nodal points in these settings and everyday movements may well have become ritualized. This article develops the idea that journeys to shrines might be considered as pilgrimages and stresses the kinetic aspect of these practices. I suggest that trips to shrines were…

The ivory workshop of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain) and the identification of ivory from Asian elephant on the Iberian Peninsula in the…

2013

During excavations in the huge ditched enclosure of Valencina de la Concepcion (Seville, Spain), the main centre from the first hierarchical framework-settlement in the Guadalquivir Valley, a pit with remains of a context for producing ivory artefacts, dating from the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, was discovered in the large metallurgical nucleate workshops. Scientific (Optical Microscopy, FIRT and Raman Spectroscopy, C/N Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry) analyses revealed that the ivory belonged to Asian elephants and the archaeological study, which was made in a specialized workshop context. In this paper we present the archaeological context, the study of the ivory artefacts and th…

Antiguas excavaciones, nuevas respuestas. El yacimiento epimagdaleniense de la Cova del Clot de l'Hospital (Roquetes, Baix Ebre)

2015

El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido estudiar los materiales obtenidos con las excavaciones de Francesc Esteve Gálvez en la Cova del Clot de l’Hospital (Bajo Ebro), yacimiento de finales del Pleistoceno-inicios del Holoceno, descubierto por él mismo el año 1945. La representación de raspadores, truncaduras, buriles y laminitas de dorso, entre otros tipos, permite atribuirlo al Epimagdaleniense, atribución corroborada por dos fechas radiocarbónicas sobre huesos de fauna: 11.115 y 10.045 BP. De esta forma, este yacimiento se suma a un numeroso conjunto de yacimientos del período citado, conocidos en las provincias de Tarragona y de Castellón de la Plana. Así mismo, el estudio de los restos fau…